The Sword of Gryffindor

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 182566

Geoff wrote:
> This firstly assumes that Dumbledore is aware of the fact that the
Chamber of Secrets contains a basilisk. Does Dumbledore know that for
a fact? People are being petrified - not killed, the latter being what
you would expect from contact with one, of these creatures.
> 
> Secondly, the diary is far from irrelevant to Harry; it is the major
threat to him because of the appearance of Tom Riddle. It is the
manifestation of Riddle which has drawn Ginny into the Chamber and,
hence, Harry. The basilisk only attacks Harry on the instruction of
Riddle's "image" and, as we see, it is only when Harry manages to
destroy both the monster and the Horcrux that he is safe again.
<snip>

Carol responds:

I didn't say that the diary was irrelevant to Harry. I said that DD
didn't know about it and that the protections he arranges for Harry
are against the monster in the Chamber (which is probably a Basilisk,
the only monster in FB capable of Petrifying a victim, so far as I'm
aware).

Fawkes, too, is perfect protection against a Basilisk since Phoenix
tears are the only antidote for Basilisk venom.

My point, then, is that DD expected Harry, who speaks Parseltongue, to
open the Chamber of secrets, as Tom Riddle, the Heir of Slytherin, had
done before him. (See his words to Harry in Hagrid's hut quoted in my
previous post Diary!Tom's words about DD sending his defender a
songbird and an old hat.) And Dumbledore obviously expected Harry to
encounter a monster there, the same monster that had originally been
released (and controlled) by Tom Riddle.

DD tells McGonagall early on that he knows *who* is opening the
chamber of Secrets (meaning Riddle!Voldemort in some form)--the only
question is how (he doesn't know about the diary). DD also knows that
only a Parselmouth can control a Basilisk and that a Basilisk can both
Petrify and kill its victims without leaving a mark. It stands to
reason, then, that DD either knows or strongly suspects that the
monster is a Basilisk.

The protections that he provides Harry, a Phoenix and a sword that
comes out of a hat (the hat itself being, of course, no protection)
are exactly suited to fighting a Basilisk, which twelve-year-old Harry
could not have done with his wand.

Dumbledore could not have anticipated the presence of Diary!Tom, and
consequently he provides no protections against him. Luckily for
Harry, the weapon he needed to destroy the diary (which of course he
didn't know was a Horcrux) was at hand after he killed the Basilisk--a
Basilisk fang.

I snipped the part about the Sorting Hat's powers since IMO they are
not relevant here--the hat merely has the "brains" of the Founders and
therefore the ability to use Legilimency to determine which House a
student belongs in. I doubt that the *Hat* summoned the Sword of
Gryffindor. It's the sword itself that came to Harry out of the hat
when it was summoned. Whether DD put it there or whether he knew that
Godric Gryffindor had put a spell on the hat so that the sword could
come out of it at need, I have no idea. But it's the magic of the
sword itself, which can be taken and used by a Gryffindor under
certain conditions, need and valor being the most important, that I'm
concerned with here, along with Dumbledore's knowledge of the sword's
magic and the probable nature of the monster that Harry would be
facing as he would have been thoroughly familiar with the properties
of Basilisks as described in FB. (He probably knew that Harry wouldn't
be able to control the Basilisk, Parseltongue or no, and I imagine
that he had instructed Fawkes to blind the basilisk so that it
couldn't kill Harry that way. Either that or Fawkes is one smart bird,
on the same wavelength as Dumbledore, and DD relied on Fawkes's
intelligence and instincts to protect Harry in any way he could.) I
forgot to mention that Fawkes is also Harry's (and Ron's, ginny's, and
Lockhart's) transportation out of the Chamber, so the Phoenix's
ability to carry heavy loads using its tali feathers was part of the
plan as well. (Fawkes could not, however, carry the Sword of
Gryffindor in that same way. He could, however, carry the Sorting Hat,
which either contained the weapon he needed to kill the Basilisk (or
some other monster with Basilisklike properties if such a creature
exists) or could be used to magically summon that weapon.

Carol, noting that neither Manticores nor Chimaeras can Petrify their
victims or be controlled by a Parselmouth, which means that the
monster has to be a Basilisk